Red Strings
by Goth-Punk88
Summary: SasuKarin, Oneshot Series — Oneshot 3: The pain is searing, so much so that Sasuke only notices Karin pulling down the zipper of her shirt when she's got it almost off. — Takes place during the timeskip, Rating T.
1. I: Red String of Fate

**Note: **Since last year we started to hold a bi-weekly Writing Challenge in _Ice&Spice_ (the SasuKarin FC at NarutoForums), and it just occurred to me that I never cross-posted any of my submissions to this account. So, I'll start doing that now; most of them (last years' entries, as well as anything I may submit to the Challenge this year) will be posted here as part of this Oneshot Series, while the others I may post as stand-alones.

For now, this one was originally written and posted on the FC on October, 2012, for that week's writing prompt: _fate_.

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**Red Strings;**

by Kanae

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**1.** Red string of fate ; _prompt_: fate

* * *

It was a sunny Sunday in Konoha, which found the village's street crowded with people. Among them was a young couple, their solemn expressions a stark contrast to their cheerful surroundings.

"To think Kushina-nee passed away two years ago, and they did not tell us a word about it…."

"Not like they could have… only she and aniki knew where to find us," the man shakes his head, sadly. "We… really should have known better the moment we heard the Yellow Flash was no longer Hokage."

His wife frowns. "Even so… they should've at _least_ let us see the child!"

"Maa… it was a miracle they even told us about him."

"Tch, we're his _family_! We had the right to know!"

The man hurriedly puts a finger to his lip and gives a wary look-around. "_Shh_, don't be so loud, Uzume! We can't afford to attract any attention to us."

"I _know_," the woman—_Uzume_—stubbornly remarks, making a little dissatisfied sound deep in her throat. But she pulls down on her coat's hood despite her complaint, making sure her hair and face were fully concealed from onlookers.

"Plus," her husband whispers, giving a pointed glance at the bundle held in her arms. "You know how sensitive she is… she doesn't like it when you get mad."

"…you're right," Uzume forlornly agrees after a moment of silent contemplation, giving the little girl in her arms an apologetic smile. "…I'm sorry, Karin."

Karin's only reply is a curious stare and a thoughtful bite on her thumb; her big eyes were wide and observing, attentively following the every change in her parent's demeanors. Ever since they had gone to the office of the old man with the funny hat, her parents seemed to be sad about something, but she could not tell what the reason behind it was. They had breakfast and it wasn't rainy nor hot; what was there to be sad about?

Noticing her inquisitive stare, her father gives her a warm smile that comes out a little tight at the seams. Far from making her feel at ease it fills her petite body with discomfort and the toddler sinks herself further into her mother's arms, wanting to escape the unpleasant sight.

So focused is she on putting some distance between herself and her father's fake smile, that she does not notice the pair passing by them and walking into the opposite direction.

But the boy _does_ notice her—and his gray eyes widen with amazement, one of his dainty hands letting go of the dress-strap he had been playing with and reaching forward to grasp something else entirely.

A lock of hair as red _as a_—

"_Tomato_!"

Startled by the pull, Karin looks back only to meet the eyes of a black-haired boy who was perched on his mother's shoulder; distinctive strands of red hair dangling from his fingertips, an unmistakable tie to her.

Yet, the boy seemed unashamed of his action.

"To~ma~to!" he merrily intones, much to her bewilderment.

Karin's eyes water. While only slightly painful, the hair-pull had been unexpected _and_ uncalled-for. She puffs out her cheeks, indignant—but any semblance of annoyance promptly abandons her as the boy's cheeky beam enlarged into a grin.

A grin so bright, so warm, that it made something in her little chest tighten and then speed _up_—_ba-thump ba-thump_—like it would when she was playing in the backyard, chasing butterflies and dreams of tomorrow and running as far as her petite limbs could carry her. _So_ warm that it was like sunrays dancing across her cheeks, the sensation making her toes curl.

Oblivious to it all, Uchiha Mikoto is giving Uzumaki Uzume an apologetic smile over her shoulder. "Ara ara, Sasuke~! That wasn't very gallant of you."

She whispers to her child, but Sasuke pays little attention to her, his eyes still fixated on the redheaded girl—who was currently crawling over her mother's shoulder in an attempt to keep looking at him despite the increasing distance between them.

"See ya~!" he yells with a wave, and watches as a pretty beam curves up her pink lips, lighting up her face.

"Mou, what's the matter, Karin?"

Her mother inquires, trying in vain to keep the toddler still; but Karin pays her no heed. She didn't know _who_ he was or _what_ he was called—just like she did not know the reason for their visit to his village, or for her parent's sadness.

But she did know one thing.

Just like she had wanted to get away from her dad's smile, she wanted to get as close as possible to this boy's—she _liked_ that smile.

She wanted to keep looking at it forever.

But _forever_ are not meant to be at the reach of a two year old like her; not yet. And so Uzumaki Karin helplessly watches as he gets further and further away, their parents taking them into opposite directions.

* * *

10 years later, their paths cross again.

Their minds do not recall that chance encounter—but their hearts do.

And so Uchiha Sasuke finds his lips stretching out on their own at the sight of her red hair and bewildered face, and Uzumaki Karin finds her cheeks heating up—her heart skipping a beat and wanting to make a run out of her chest, as if to meet an old friend.

And as fate would have it, maybe their _forever_ started then.

—

* * *

**end.**

Ahh young!SasuKarin are my Achilles heel, I can't deny it. The setting and timeline were kept vague on purpose, but I was just playing with the thought of Karin's parents knowing Kushina and Minato, and being on good terms with them until the moment of their deaths.

Thanks a lot for reading (or re-reading, if you frequent Ice&Spice), and if you've got some time, please do let me know your thoughts~!

- **Kanae**


	2. II: Why

Thanks a lot for your reviews!

I came across this draft today; apparently I wrote it almost a year ago but never got around to posting it, I think. I get the feeling that I was supposed to take the idea somewhere, but since it didn't go anywhere in a year, I figure I may as well leave it as it is~ So here is some unseen material for those who have already read the other drabbles at Ice&Spice.

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**By**: Kanae (Goth-Punk88)

**Rating**: K+

**Genre:** Romance, drama, general.

**Word Count:** 1.803

**Summary**: They had a silent agreement to never ask each other that. Sometimes the simplest of questions were the most dangerous, and for them _why_ was the most dangerous of them all.

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**Why**

**—**

* * *

When Sasuke helps her, edgeless patience somehow overriding and deflecting the sharpness of his gaze, Karin wants to know.

_Why_.

But the question feels foreign, dangerous; unfitting and forbidden. Like he would slam the doors of his psyche on her face if she so much as dared to try and trespass into the territory confined by that question.

_Trespass into his past._

So Karin says _thank you_ instead, and watches as Sasuke's eyes widen for a fraction of a second before returning to their normal size, a nonchalant _hn_ leaving his lips and drawing a smile across Karin's own.

* * *

"You're with Orochimaru," Karin states, and lets her silence do the rest.

Sasuke does not hesitate.

"I seek the power to kill one man."

_Why_ is what Karin wants to ask. "Who?" is what she inquires instead.

For a moment, Sasuke just stares. He is seizing her up, that much Karin knows. And so she waits for his judgment, all along wondering _what would it be_? Silence, or perhaps the truth?

She finds her reply in his eyes before he voices it aloud.

"My brother," he says at last.

That night, Karin makes no more questions.

* * *

"I will help you."

She states the following night, and Sasuke gives her an unreadable look; it is apparent that he does not understand her decision—her offer.

And yet he nods _alright_ without asking _why_.

And a pact is made.

One that left room for no questions.

* * *

Karin bites down on her bottom lip to hold back her cries, but there's no fighting the acrid bitterness of the tears that gather in her eyes and blur her vision—just like there was no fighting the bleeding of her soiled arm as she gathered it against her chest, curled into herself like a wounded animal.

It is in such a pitiful state that he finds her.

"…You don't have to do this to yourself."

He says, after a pregnant pause; his voice was quiet, and no passerby would have dared to mistake his solemnity for concern.

But Karin knew better than them. And so she wipes her unleashed tears away with shaky fingertips, and raises her face to meet his gaze.

"You're wrong, Sasuke."

And in that moment, Karin sees it the clearest.

A _why_ clearly reflected in the incredulousness darkening his obsidian eyes. Exposed before it, Karin averts her own; feigns ignorance in hopes Sasuke will forbade the question just as they had learnt to do.

She is equal parts relieved and disappointed when he does.

"Come, Karin. Let's get you cleaned up."

Thankful, she lets herself be guided by his touch.

And since Sasuke does not ask why, Karin does not tell him _I want to become stronger to be of use to you_.

* * *

She has been waiting for him. A part of him seems to realize it, because he wastes no time with pleasantries and goes straight to the point.

"Come with me, Karin. I need you."

She knows her reply just as well as she knew he would come, but it's been six months since the last time he came to see her and worse, he has not come alone. So she indulges herself by playing hard to get, delaying the inevitable.

Yet, despite her charade, she does not question _why_ has he come to her; _what_ does he need her for.

This was something they had wordlessly agreed to a long, long time ago.

It was time to honor her word.

* * *

"We're going to crush Konoha."

There's a turbulent whirlwind in his chakra as he announces his plan to them; waves crashing against the sand as if in echo of the thunderstorm the hatred and rancor swirling inside of him were promising to harvest.

It is the first time his chakra has made her shiver with trepidation—but as Sasuke turns to face them, trails of dried tears bared for them all to see, Karin leaves her own apprehension behind and drowns in the pain in his gaze; latches onto her need to drive it away, one push at a time, until there were no clouds left to shadow the sun of his smile.

"We're going to crush Konoha," Sasuke repeats, and while his gaze is set on Tobi's—_Madara's_—it is by her side that he comes to stand.

"You should all go rest for the night, we'll discuss your plans tomorrow."

The masked man leaves without waiting for their agreement, and Karin's gaze shifts from his back to Sasuke's profile.

_We're going to crush Konoha_, he had said, and she did not need to ask _why_; that man had told them enough. But there was one question that she could not sidestep, even though she could tell what his reply would be.

"…Are you sure about this, Sasuke?"

For a breath, his shoulders stiffen—but then his jaw sets and he gives her a hard, sidelong regard. "… Konoha will _pay_, Karin. There's no room for doubt; that village means nothing to me anymore."

She sees beyond his vehemence, hears beyond his words—but she does not push. And as he forges ahead, the three of them follow his trail.

* * *

Her unzipped shirt lies at her waist, her naked back to him as he weighted the damage his Amaterasu had done. Yet, despite her nudity, Karin does not feel exposed; there was little of her that Sasuke hadn't yet seen. Trails of his teeth and ghosts of his touch across places she would not—_ever_—let anyone else touch.

But she _does_ feel nervous; as if she were about to walk on thin ice. It wasn't like her to question—or mention—the lengths to which Sasuke would or wouldn't go for her; the little details that he himself probably did not notice, but that to her meant the world and more.

And yet this time she could do nothing to stop the words from bubbling up her throat like sea foam. "…You stayed behind for me, Sasuke."

It is a plain statement that means many things at once—_you risked your life for me, you jeopardized your revenge_—but above all, it is a question in disguise.

_Why?_

There is a gravid pause as Sasuke breathes behind her; and then his fingertips come to softly trace her upper back—the spot where his black flames had burnt her.

"… It won't leave any scars."

Karin places her shirt back on and pretends she did not shiver under his touch—pretends his silence did not disgruntle her.

"…_Right_."

_Pretending_.

It was a game both of them knew only too well.

* * *

She does not know where they are. Does not know what is happening, _why_ is it happening—does not quite understand what is wrong with Sasuke, or how to fix it.

She felt that uncertainty down to her core; and she cannot hide the worry from her stare as Sasuke uprights himself into a sitting position and cleanses the trail of blood on his cheek with a dirty hand.

"…You are overdoing it, Sasuke," Karin mutters, but Sasuke offers no signs of having heard her.

She frowns, drawing her cloak closer to herself; there was no breeze in this confined space of nothingness, but suddenly she felt quite cold. "If Tobi hadn't gotten there when he did, you wouldn't have made it. _Neither_ of us would have."

She is startled when he calls her name, bangs shadowing his eyes.

"…Will you still follow me?"

It's an unexpected question—one that makes Karin press her lips together in a thin line, her stare boring into his skull.

She does not know what is happening to him, and to his chakra; does not know where his overbearing lust for revenge would take them. Has no way to know if his inability to let go of the ghosts of the past would make him follow them to the grave, dragging her under with him as offering for his kin.

But despite all the things she did not know, there was one truth that quieted all her doubts and steadied her resolve.

"…Yeah."

Sasuke turns to face her, _then_—troubled obsidian meeting resolute red, and _searching_. Wondering.

But it's another _why_ that remains unvoiced—and so Karin offers him nothing but what was written across her eyes.

_I'm not letting you die alone_.

She does not know if Sasuke understands; but his chakra tells her he just might.

* * *

As she stares up at him, frightened by the look in his eyes, then more than ever Karin does not dare to ask _why_.

Why are you discarding me? _Why_?

She is too scared of the reply.

* * *

When their paths cross again, Sasuke has only one question to make.

"What do you want, Karin?"

_Why are you here, after what I've done to you?_

Karin is not ready to strip his real question from its disguise just yet; he had betrayed her, forsaken her and disappointed her heart.

She does not trust him—not yet.

But there was something that had not changed; despite the pain and the blood and her stubborn want to believe otherwise.

And so she bypasses the question by stating a truth.

"_You_."

* * *

"_Why_?"

Sasuke dares to ask it for the first and final time as she holds him in her arms, and despite the direness of the circumstances Karin finds her lips quirking upward.

_Figures it would be him the one to cave first._

Truth be told, she is still not sure if he was ready to hear the answer; too little time had transpired, too many things were left to address. But his eyes are lucidly begging her for it, and so she gives in.

Gives in to them. _Gives in to him_.

But Karin has never been good with words, so she lets her lips catch his instead. He is too stunned to reciprocate, too exhausted to move—but Karin doesn't quite mind.

She has been waiting for this moment for as long as she can remember; and now that it had come, all she felt was relief. It was like a weight she had not realized she was carrying had been lifted off her shoulders by the mere fact of being finally honest with him, once and for all.

The kiss comes to an end, and Karin finds herself smiling down at him.

"_Always_," is all she says. And it says everything.

Understanding dawns on Sasuke's eyes, and he weakly raises a hand to lay his fingertips against her cheek.

_Always_, the gesture echoed, and Karin closes her eyes and leans into his touch.

_That's why._

—

* * *

**End.**

I usually avoid stating their feelings (be it Karin's or Sasuke's) because I like to play with that unspoken nature that I feel SK has; but I get the feeling that Kishi may probably not be as tacit as he has been so far sooner or later, so I decided to explore this a bit more myself, haha. Hopefully it wasn't _too_ corny.

As always, for those who have read up to this point: thank you! I would love to read your thoughts, so if you've got some time, please don't hesitate to leave me a review.

The next oneshot will probably be way darker than the previous two; so look forward to it!


	3. III: Under Your Touch

Thanks a lot to all those who have reviewed, favorited and put this into their alerts. I really appreciate it! Here is the 'darker' one-shot I promised you all, sorry for the delay~!

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**Rating:** T

**Genre:** General - Romance

**Note**: Sasuke and Karin are around 14 years old in this, and it takes place during their stay at Otogakure. The title was inspired by a Sophie Ellis-Bextor song, and the line underneath is a quote from it.

**Summary**: The pain is searing, so much so that Sasuke only notices Karin pulling down the zipper of her shirt when she's got it almost off.

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**Under your touch**

(I had a taste and now all I want is you)

**—**

* * *

The cave is somber and filthy. There is an acrid and pasty stench spread like perfume across its walls, a sticky substance that forcefully made its way into their lungs with every breath they took. But the worst part of the rock den had to be its humidity. It clung to their clothes, misted Karin's lenses, so that all she could make out was the bright blur of the flame Kabuto had lit up.

He was trying to keep it ablaze with small branches, but neither of them moved a finger to help him—and neither did they try to scoot closer to the fire, despite how tempting its warmth was.

They were sitting against one of the furthest walls of the cavern. It was coldest there, and also the most damp—but he didn't seem to care, and the incessant dripping had deafened Karin's senses to everything but it.

_Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

Sasuke's arm wouldn't stop bleeding no matter how tightly he wound the bandages around his maimed skin, and the puddle of blood that had pooled underneath it was seeping across the cracks of the ground and toward her. Karin could feel it on her fingertips—ropy and warm, like only fresh blood could be.

Sasuke should let Kabuto heal him, but Karin knew better than to ask. He did not like to let Kabuto touch him unless the situation was dire.

An almost severed arm seemed dire enough to Karin, but Sasuke did not share the sentiment, if his reticence was anything to go by.

Yet, Sasuke could not quite manage to conceal the pain he was in. It wasn't his expression that gave him away, no, he always had his visage under control, but his labored breathing and his teeth—they clattered spasmodically, until he set his jaw and bit on his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

Karin frowned and looked down at her own arm, wrapped in bandages covered in dirt and dark splatters of red. She flickers a look at Sasuke and makes up her mind. Undoes her bandages and throws her glasses aside.

"Sasuke, let me see."

Sasuke opens his eyes only to find Karin crawling toward him like a small rat, and instinctively pulls his arm back with a hiss when she makes to reach out for it. "_Don't_", he warns, eyes narrowed, but Karin is undeterred.

"Don't be stubborn, Sasuke!" she prods in a whisper, darting a fugitive look at Kabuto's back. "You can't keep bleeding like this. Now, let me see!"

She almost regrets it when she does.

Dry blood had formed a black, crusty cover around the cut, but it falls apart the moment she removes the bandages and blood comes gushing out like a suiton. Karin presses her fingers against it to try to quell the rush, but it slips through them as if it had a mind of its own.

Sasuke grimaces, Karin curses. She has to hold back an apology as she sticks her fingers into the wound, feeling around for tendon or muscle damage.

Sasuke draws in a breath, stifling a grunt, and Karin's eyes widen.

It was much worse than she had thought.

The sword had sliced bone.

"_Shit__._"

"K—arin…?"

Karin pulls her fingers out, but warrants his unasked question no reply, mind whirling at a mile per hour. The amount of chakra that flowed through her arms would not be enough to heal a perforated bone—much less now, when she had used so much of it already.

There was only one option. One part of her anatomy that could supply Sasuke with the enough amount of chakra, if Kabuto's calculations were correct. The experiments on that area had only just begun, but Karin had nothing to risk and Sasuke an arm to lose.

She doesn't hesitate.

The pain is searing, so much so that Sasuke only notices Karin pulling down the zipper of her shirt when she's got it almost off.

"W—what are you…?"

"There's no time for explanations, Sasuke! If we waste any more, you'll end up losing that arm," Karin asserts, meeting his eyes albeit only briefly, hoping he will be too delirious to notice the way her cheeks are burning as she pulls down her fishnet undergarment and straightens, offering her upper chest to his mouth. "Come on, bite me!"

Sasuke hesitates, pointedly looking at her face. "What about… your arms…?"

Karin shook her head hard, annoyed and anxious and embarrassed all at once. "It'd be no good, now _do_ it! Do you want to lose that arm!?"

No. _No_, of course he didn't, damn it. It was the arm he held Kusanagi with.

Dubiously, Sasuke allows his eyes to touch the pale skin lingering a breath away from his lips. Even despite the ill-lighted surroundings and the intolerable pain, he could still make out two bite-marks that had yet to scar tattooed across her collarbone, and it makes something in his stomach tighten with unease.

"_Sasuke_!" Karin urges, and Sasuke comes to himself only to notice his glare boiling on the back of Kabuto's skull. Without giving himself any more time to think, Sasuke grabs a hold of Karin's wrist with his good arm and pulls her closer, sinking his teeth on the tender skin at the bottom of her neck.

Karin bites back a grunt. He had bit too close to her clavicle. "W—wait, b—bite lo—_lower_…." She commands, barely registering what those words entailed, or the hand that comes to entangle on the back of Sasuke's raven hair, guiding him lower.

When she feels his lips ghosting on the upper skin of her right breast her eyes widen with realization—but soon enough her eyelids are shutting close as Sasuke bares his teeth once more, grazing the sensitive skin and then resolutely piercing through it.

He begins to suck almost immediately and a lot of things happen at once.

There is a sharp ache, as always, but it pales in comparison to the heat of Sasuke's mouth on her, to the sensation of her chakra entering his flow and mingling with his own, to the comforting pressure of his nails drawing crescent-moons into her palms.

Karin moans, subconsciously pulling on Sasuke's sweaty hair and pushing him further against herself.

Sasuke could feel the skin of his arm beginning to knit itself back together, the pain fading into a dull ache and then disappearing altogether as a completely different sensation took over, sending his senses into a frenzy. He feels himself being pushed more fully into her chest but he does not fight her and opens his mouth wider instead, carving a new set of lower teeth in the lower curve of her breast.

This was not his first time biting her; it was not his first time feeling her warm chakra running through his arms, down his torso—but it is the first time he feels it leaving a trail of footprints that seem to catch fire with every little sound she made, with every little brush of her skin against his.

Like wildfire, it seems to settle on his abdomen and spread lower, _lower_—until his mind goes blank and he feels intoxicated. By her spicy chakra, by the salty taste of her skin, the slight panting of her body—the touch of her fingers against his scalp as a moan reverberates at the back of her throat, her back arching.

He is alien to his limbs as his hand abandons her wrist and settles on her hipbone, his right arm regaining movement in order to wrap itself around her, his fingers resting against her naked shoulder-blade and pulling her more toward himself.

His eyes part open, in a daze, and for a moment all he can see is Karin's arched neck, the sculptured angle of her jawline—and then she is lowering her head, as if feeling the weight of his stare, and he is met with the alluring sight of Karin's half-lidded eyes, of her flushed cheeks.

_Sa… su… ke_ her lips call without making a sound, before curving into a lightheaded smile. Her hair falls around them like a curtain of flames, and Sasuke sees it the clearest in the darkness.

The blaze of his veldfire reflected on her eyes, echoing through him like a feral call.

Karin licks her lower lip, and Sasuke feels the inexplicable urge to let it consume him.

To let Karin burn him out to his roots.

"…-kun, any more of that, and the girl will die."

Kabuto's unexpected intrusion grazes them like a bolt of lightning. Both teen's eyes enlarge with shock—they had completely forgotten Kabuto was there at all.

No, more than _that—_

Karin's face grows as red as her hair as she takes in the position she and Sasuke were in. She was kneeling in between his legs, hands tangled on his hair, and he was practically hugging her against himself, his face on _her_—

She sees Sasuke realize it at the same time she does, both promptly frozen in place.

And then Karin lets out an undignified yelp as she pushes Sasuke away, turning her naked back on Kabuto and blindly fumbling around for her glasses.

Sasuke, despite the slight panting, was a picture of outward calm as he coolly backtracked against the wall, resuming his previous position and letting the shadows engulf him whole.

The inside picture, however, was a whole different story.

His heart was still jamming against his ribcage and his cheeks felt unnaturally warm, his trousers uncomfortably tight. He takes in deep, calming breaths and curses inwardly, fisting his palms and berating himself for having lost control in such a shameful way.

And in front of the likes of _Kabuto_, no less. What was he _thinking_?

Karin's half-lidded eyes flash through his mind, uninvited and distressful, and Sasuke has to fight back the urge to look at her.

_What_ _the hell was that?_

His agitated question remains unanswered however, as Kabuto clears his throat and goes back to tending the fire, making no attempt to conceal the mirth from his voice. "Sorry for ruining your fun, Sasuke-kun, but I'm afraid that had you taken any more of her chakra, Karin would've probably died."

Sasuke looks quizzical for a moment, and then recognition settles on his face. He darts a glance at his right arm, which was now healed, and then at Karin, only to find her on her fours, panting and catching her breath, a cold sweat running down her forehead and to the tip of her nose to then drip onto the ground.

Seeing Karin in such a state is enough to quell the effect the biting had had on him, and Sasuke scoots closer. "Karin, are you alright?"

"Yeah… just a little dizzy," Karin murmurs, giving him a tired look from above the brim of her moist glasses. Her shirt was back in place. "What about… your arm?"

Sasuke doesn't even need to check, but he flexes it for good measure, "As good as new." He closes his lips without voicing the _thanks, Karin_ that had come forth, for once oddly self-conscious in front of this girl.

The words make him feel inadequate for some reason, even though this would not be his first time thanking her. It puzzles him, but at least he doesn't seem to be the only one feeling awkward, because some color returns to Karin's ashen cheeks and she looks away, dismissing his words with a nonchalant grunt.

"Heh, you two made quite the scene. I wonder what would have Orochimaru-sama thought, had he been here," Kabuto muses out loud, seemingly out of nowhere. "I wonder if he would have enjoyed the show, _or_…?" he lets his words fade into an obscure silence, but the sharp look he aims at Karin's back makes her shiver, and it widens his smirk as his eyes lay on Sasuke's own.

Sasuke glares, and meaningfully reaches out to lay a hand over his Kusanagi. "That is none of Orochimaru's business, Kabuto," he snarls coldly, and his glare darkens. _Nor yours_, that glare said. It steals a chuckle from Kabuto, who shrugs and throws another piece of wood to the fire.

Sasuke is glad the older boy is seemingly giving up, because at the back of his mind, he couldn't help but know Kabuto had been right.

They must have made _quite_ the scene, indeed….

For the rest of the night, in the cave there is nothing but silence.

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It isn't until a day after their return to Orochimaru's lair that Sasuke and Karin see each other again. Their eyes meet for the briefest of moments before each returns their focus to their own task, exchanging an offhand greeting.

Things were to be back to normal, it seemed.

Or so Sasuke thought.

As they pass each other in the dark corridor, walking into opposite directions, the small hairs on his arms inexplicably stand on end, and Sasuke finds he's acutely aware of the warmth of Karin's skin as her hand brushes past his.

…That awareness never does quite fade.

—

* * *

**End.**

The next one should be more lighthearted, and on the humorous side. As always, thanks a lot for reading, and if you have a few seconds, I would really love to hear your thoughts.

See you guys next time!


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